Palladium is used in a variety of applications both because of its pleasing luster and excellent electrical properties and its lower cost compared to gold and platinum. In particular, it is used extensively as an electrical contact material because of its chemical stability and the fact that an insulating layer is not formed on the surface. Indeed, because of the lower cost of palladium compared to gold, palladium has partially replaced gold as a high quality electrical contact material.
Palladium is electroplated by a variety of processes usually involving a complexing agent such as ammonia, organic amine, aliphatic polyamine, etc. It is highly desirable that those complexing agents remain stable in the palladium electroplating process so as to ensure long life for the plating bath.